A man holding a Soviet Russian flag salutes in front of the parliament building in Simferopol, Crimea, Ukraine. Crimeans voted to leave Ukraine and join Russia. / Hannibal Hanschke, epa

by Anna Arutunyan , Special for USA TODAY

by Anna Arutunyan , Special for USA TODAY

Russian President Vladimir Putin's annexation of Ukraine's breakaway republic of Crimea has stunned the international community, but support for his actions in Russia suggest there is certain logic to what he is doing that no amount of sanctions or threats of isolation will overturn: bolstering popularity back home.

"He's doing it to strengthen his position back home," said Alexei Malashenko, a security expert at Moscow's Carnegie Center. "It's effective, it rallies the people around him, and it's normal behavior."

A recent poll by the All-Russian Center for Public Opinion Research showed that more than 90% of Russians supported unification with the Crimean Republic, while 86% believe that Crimea, which was transferred to Ukraine by Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev in 1954, is part of Russian territory.

The mood in Moscow on Tuesday was supportive of the annexation, with Russian flags hanging out of windows and strangers congratulating each other on what they referred to as a "holiday."

Markets, too, opened with slight growth Tuesday in anticipation of Putin's address, with Russia's MICEX index closing with a growth of more than 4%, heartened in part by Putin's remarks easing fears of further annexation.

Putin's approval rating has skyrocketed since the Kremlin got approval to send troops to Ukraine, jumping by nearly 10% in less than a month to 71.6%, the highest in three years, according to the All-Russian Center for Public Opinion Research.

Putin called Khrushchev's decision to give Crimea to Ukraine unlawful and said that "within a totalitarian state, no one asked what the people think."

Putin's aim has been to ensure control over Ukraine, once a part of the former Soviet Union. "Russia thinks in terms of the politics of the early 20th century," said Alexei Makarkin, deputy director of the Moscow-based Center for Political Technologies. "It's about spheres of interest. And if another power comes close to that sphere of interest, it's interpreted as aggression."

Putin interpreted regime change in Ukraine as a coup and as a direct threat to Russia's interest, Makarkin said. Putin's decision to annex Crimea "was a reaction to the events in Ukraine."

That doesn't mean he will necessarily go for annexing other parts of Ukraine.

"Based on his remarks, he doesn't want to do that," Makarkin said.

Putin said Tuesday that he doesn't want to split Ukraine, easing fears that tensions in the region will escalate further. Still, two weeks earlier, Putin had also said that Russia had no intention to annex Crimea.

"I don't know what he will do next. He's not a predictable politician," said Malashenko. "National leaders come to power on their own, rather than being appointed, like Putin was."

Putin did not expect the pro-Western demonstrations in Ukraine to topple President Viktor Yanukovych's government, and his decision on Crimea came in response to that, Malashenko said. Annexing Crimea "couldn't have occurred to him six months ago."

In the past, Putin cared quite a bit about what Western leaders thought of him, but he has since become more indifferent. "The Crimea decision was a chance to show that Russia can take decisive action internationally, and to teach America a lesson that it has its own interests that it is willing to defend," Makarkin said. "There were two aims: maintaining Russia's sphere of interest and self-assertion."

Because of the Crimea dispute, Russia's membership in the G8 was suspended, and Europe and the United States imposed travel bans and asset freezes on a number of Russian politicians. The sanctions were not taken particularly seriously by Russian politicians.

"I see the decision of the Washington administration as a recognition of my accomplishments for Russia. It's an honor for me," Surkov told the Moskovsky Komsomolets daily newspaper. "I don't have foreign accounts. In the United States I'm interested (in rapper) Tupac Shakur, (poet) Allen Ginsberg and (painter) Jackson Pollock. I don't need a visa to access their work, so I'm not losing anything."

Putin, according to Makarkin, is reflecting the will of a large part of the government elite.

"Someone is afraid of sanctions. But others see Russia's greatness as standing above everything else," Makarkin said. "Putin was supported by elites in the (law enforcement and security structures), while everyone else just went along with him."

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